CHICAGO -- Kensey May of Missoula Hellgate and Stirling Marshall-Pryde of Bozeman High have been named the 2020-21 Gatorade Montana cross country runners of the year.
May, a 5-foot-7 junior, won the Class AA state meet in the fall with a time of 19 minutes, 21.03 seconds, helping the Knights to a second-place team finish. May transferred to Hellgate from Parry McCluer High School in Virginia, where she won the Class 1 state championship as a sophomore in 2019.
“It was amazing to watch Kensey move to a team like Hellgate and flourish as a runner and teammate,” Hellgate coach Anders Brooker said in a media release. “She continued to get better each week.”
The Gatorade award "recognizes not only outstanding athletic excellence, but also high standards of academic achievement and exemplary character demonstrated on and off the field," according to the release from Gatorade. To that end, May has volunteered locally and maintains a 4.0 grade-point average.
Marshall-Pryde, a 6-1, 155-pound senior, won the 2020 Class AA state meet with a time of 16:35.40. The Hawks finished third as a team.
During the season, Marshall-Pryde recorded Montana's best 5K time of 15:39.79.
"Stirling is a great runner. Throughout his high school career he always came back stronger and more efficient,” said Billings West coach Lauren Zent. “In his senior year, he proved to be dominant in the state.”
Marshall-Pryde, who has signed to run at Portland State University, maintained a 3.49 GPA and has volunteered with the Bozeman Food Bank and Habitat for Humanity. He's also a former member of the Nordic Junior National Ski Team and has donated time performing piano recitals and singing at area nursing homes.
